Apparently, Rape Is A Lot Funnier Than I Thought

Since the Steubenville High School rape case verdict was announced in March of this year, I have kept a keen eye on all rape issues that have occurred in 2013 because I truly believe many of us are ignorant about our society’s struggle with grasping what rape culture truly entails. From the New Delhi gang rape case, to Rick Ross’ “U.O.E.N.O” drama over his molly-lyric, to seeing Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight get rescued from Ariel Castro’s house, there has been a lot to report, and I’ve definitely learned a lot more than I’ve ever known about rape before. But there is one thing that I found out this year while following these rape stories that I never really paid attention to: A lot of boys and men are victims of rape to, whether at the hands of other men OR women. As much as I hear (and agree with) the sentiment that rape is NEVER funny, the sad thing that these men’s sexual assault stories revealed to me is that rape, apparently, is a LOT funnier than I thought.

When I heard these men’s tales, it reminded me of one of Dave Chappelle’s most brilliant stand-up routines:

The brilliance of the joke is what the subject of his humour really is. It’s not the victim or the actual act, but society’s response to how we view male rape. His assertion that “society don’t give a f*^k about male rape” is 100% accurate because investigating these male rape cases has definitely helped illuminate some harsh realities on how we each individually respond to hearing a man was the victim of a violent sex-crime. For example: